Editing Thomas Gresham (section)

==Financial acumen==
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===Rescue of the pound===
When in 1551 the mismanagement of Sir [[William Damsell]], King's Merchant to the Low Countries, had caused the English Government much financial embarrassment, the authorities called Gresham for advice, thereafter following his proposals. Gresham advocated the adoption of various methods &ndash; highly ingenious, but quite arbitrary and unfair &ndash; for raising the value of the [[pound sterling]] on the [[The Belgian bourse of Antwerp|Antwerp bourse]] which proved so successful that in just a few years [[Edward VI of England|King Edward VI]] had discharged almost all of his debts. The Government sought Gresham's advice in all their money difficulties, and also frequently employed him in various diplomatic missions. He had no stated salary, but in reward of his services received from King Edward various grants of lands, the annual value of which at that time amounted ultimately to about 400 [[pound sterling|pounds]] a year.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Later services to the Crown===
On the accession of [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] in 1553, Gresham fell out of favour at [[Court of St James's|Court]] for a short time with [[Alderman]] William Dauntsey displacing him. But Dauntsey's financial operations proved unsuccessful and Gresham was soon reinstated; and as he professed his zealous desire to serve the Queen, and manifested great adroitness both in negotiating loans and in smuggling money, arms and foreign goods, not only were his services retained throughout her reign (1553–1558), but besides his salary of twenty shillings ''per diem'' he received grants of [[church lands]] to the yearly value of 200 pounds.

Under [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]]'s reign (1558–1603), besides continuing in his post as financial agent of the Crown, Gresham acted as Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the [[Royal court|Court]] of [[Margaret of Parma|Duchess Margaret of Parma]], [[List of governors of the Habsburg Netherlands|Governor of the Netherlands]], and was appointed a [[Knight Bachelor]] in 1559 prior to his departure. The unsettled times preceding the [[Dutch revolt]] compelled him to leave [[Antwerp]] on 10 March 1567; but, though he spent the remainder of his life in London, he continued his business as merchant and government financial agent in much the same way as he had always done.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 

Queen Elizabeth also found Gresham's abilities useful in a variety of other ways, including acting as [[gaoler]] to [[Lady Mary Grey]] (sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]]), who, as a punishment for marrying [[Thomas Keyes]] the sergeant-porter, was imprisoned in his house from June 1569 to the end of 1572.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Founding of the Royal Exchange===
In 1565 Gresham made a proposal to the [[City of London]]'s [[Court of Aldermen]] to build, at his own expense, a [[Exchange (organized market)|bourse]] or [[exchange (organized market)|exchange]] &ndash; what became the [[Royal Exchange (London)|Royal Exchange]], modelled on the [[The Belgian bourse of Antwerp|Antwerp bourse]] &ndash; on condition that the [[Corporation of London|Corporation]] provided for this purpose a suitable location. In this proposal he seems to have had a good eye for his self-interest as well as for the general good of the City's merchants, for by a yearly rental of £700 obtained for the shops in the upper part of the building he received more than sufficient return for his trouble and expense.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

The foundation of the [[Royal Exchange, London|Royal Exchange]] is the background of [[Thomas Heywood]]'s play: ''[[If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody]] part 2'', in which a [[Lord]] extols the quality of the building when asked if he has ever seen "a goodlier frame":
{{blockquote|Not in my life; yet I have been in [[Venice]]... In the [[Rialto]] there, called [[St Mark's Basilica|Saint Mark]]'s; 'tis but a bauble, if compared to this. The nearest, that which most resembles this, is the great [[Exchange (organized market)|Burse]] in [[Antwerp]], yet no comparable either in height or wideness, the fair cellarage, or goodly shops above. Oh my [[Lord Mayor]], this Gresham hath much graced your City of London; his fame will long outlive him.<ref>Heywood, Thomas, ''The Dramatic Works of Thomas Heywood'', 6 volumes, ed. J. Payne Collier, London: The Shakespeare Society, 1851.</ref>}}